("Unity" mural by Kristen T. Ramirez on SW Morrison St.)
Certain streets downtown were closed because of the event happening this particular day...
We had watched the news earlier that morning. Local high school students planned Portland's March for Our Lives event, a march against gun violence that was nationwide but with satellite demonstrations all over the U.S. In fact, TC said some of her friends would be participating in San Diego's event; one of her good friends was in Washington DC for the same event.
We thought it would be a great opportunity to witness history. TC was very excited to see the student-led demonstration. Borne from the senseless tragedy that was the Marjory Stoneman High School shooting on February 14, students all over the US wanted to call attention to gun control laws and gun violence.
The downtown streets were filled with people carrying a variety of signs expressing their thoughts. Nearby was Portland Courthouse Square where the people would be set up to hear speeches and listen to live music by local Portland band, Portugal the Man.
As an educator in the schools, this really resonated with me. We recently had an "active shooter drill" and the idiot that we have for president even made a suggestion that teachers should be armed. WTF. Sorry, but not in my job description. Growing up, we experienced earthquakes drills as well as fire drills. Those were all we had to worry about. Now, we have the added fear of someone going in to shoot up the school. Ever since the Columbine shootings in 1999, it's been a fear that's been in the back of my mind. That shouldn't be a normal fear.
I'll let the photos of the event speak for themselves.
I can't believe the Vice President wants to overturn Roe vs. Wade. Simply unbelievable.
Through this all, light rain was falling constantly. I was soaked, but not sopping wet from standing in the rain. We were on the outskirts near Nordstroms then moved around the corner to see the demonstrators move into Pioneer Courthouse Square. We didn't want to be caught in the crush of the crowd.
The "Blue Wave" aka "Stormy" as in #Stormthemidterms.
Here's a video which pretty much shows the later part of the demonstration.
plus a TV clip of the Portland high school students who organized the event.
Articles:
"Here's what you need to know about Saturday's March for Our Lives" PortlandMercury, March 23, 2018
"Portland 'March for Our Lives': Time's are a changin'" KOIN.COm, March 24, 2018
"Enough is enough..." Willamette Week, March 24, 2018
"March for Our Lives Portland - Thousands flood the streets as students demand stricter gun control" OregonLive, March 25, 2018
More info:
March for Our Lives
Saturday, March 24, 2018
What you need to know" CNN, March 21, 2018
+ the official website - marchforourlives.com
Of the many trips we have made over the years. TC enjoyed our spring break in Portland. She told me that it was different experiencing activism in a different city. She's been to local political rallies and demonstrations and even participated in her school's Walk Out last month (the students actually were on campus but in a designated and administration approved area). She noticed there were very few people of color in the march, not unlike our communities down in the South Bay. She was surprised to see the mainly white demonstrators standing up for her same beliefs (not that they wouldn't, but her school is very diverse and so is south San Diego).
We stayed for about an hour and a half and ended up walking back to our hotel in the rain. We would later traverse to the other side of the Willamette River in search of coffee, interesting sights and thrift store hunting.
3 comments:
Not sure if you watch United Shades of America - but I thought this was an interesting episode CC:
https://www.cnn.com/2016/05/27/opinions/w-kamau-bell-united-shades-portland/index.html
Thanks for the episode link Kirk I don't watch too much TV but I will make it a point to watch that particular episode.
I've heard about Kamau Bell. He was kicked out of a restaurant and pretty much was racially profiled.
He was meeting with his wife, who is white and they kicked them out because they thought he was harassing her which was BS. This preceded the most recent incident where two black men were kicked out of Starbucks for not buying anything, bit they were just waiting for someone to show up for a business meeting.
Kirk
Thanks again for the link to that thought provoking article. Before our trip, I read "Portlandness - A Cultural Atlas". One of the sections detailed the racist policy of redlining as well as how racial demographics have changed over the decades, especially in the North quadrant. There was even a satellite map from the 50's overlaid with African American owned businesses and compared to the 2000's where many, if not, all of the businesses were replaced with new condos, shops, and eateries with gentrification.
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